Tired, working early shifts much of the week, running out of time to post for the day, so here, have some cat pictures. Pardon the mediocre quality of my phone camera, especially for pictures taken at night.

( Behind zee cut. )

If you can see this, post a picture of a cat in your journal. Read here to find out why.

( Here, have a couple. )

Pass it on!

There's only one today, and it's not even my cat, but it was too adorable not to share. This is my MiL's cat, Peaches, on a rare foray into the house. Looks like she discovered the cat that's allowed to live inside...

( Behold the cute! )

A cat emerging from a snowstorm

Actually, Tori was getting up off the white sofa, and Lexi was sitting on the ottoman, which was covered by a black comforter. But something went wrong with the exposure, so everything but Lexi, the comforter, and Tori's stripes disappeared into white nothingness. Pretty cool, huh? Click on the picture to get to a larger version.

The cats taking intense interest in a photo shoot...



The cupcakes were really good, btw.

European lynx and house cat live together in Russian zoo.

Those are two happy-looking kitties, despite the size difference.

If you are reading this, post a picture of a cat in your journal. (Your cat, or someone else's. But preferably yours! If possible.)

( Here's Tori looking saucy. )

Yesterday afternoon, right after I wrote my last LJ entry, I headed downstairs. Once there, I was assaulted by an image of unimaginable cuteness -- two kitties, sleeping together on the couch; naturally, I turned around, went back up the stairs and began my quest for a camera. T had taken his new point-and-shoot with him; the SLR was here, but I didn't trust myself with that one. So I pulled out the old point-and-shoot, which isn't guaranteed to work on any given day. I crossed my fingers, turned it on... and got lucky.

( Pictures!!! )

Today I have been immersed in art, architecture, and city planning. We didn't make it to the art museum in the morning, or rather, we did, but it was closed and wouldn't be opening for two hours. So instead we decided to check out some of Denver's public art, notably the Big Blue Bear (not his real name) who peers into the big windows of the conference center. (The artist, Lawrence Argent, spoke to us on Saturday morning, it was a really fascinating presentation.) Then, after a side trip to an excellent bookstore, I sat in on probably my favorite session of the conference so far, a presentation on problems of city and land-use planning in the Mountain West and in Denver in particular. One of the speakers was Denver's city planning manager, and he was a fantastic speaker -- engaging, funny, informative. That was followed by a talk on the design of the new addition to the Denver Art Museum, which was a good mix of speakers: an architecture librarian who gave a critical overview, one of the architects who worked on the building, and a museum educator who works there now. This would have interested me pretty much any time, but it was especially great today because our dinner was a party in this same museum, and I really enjoyed having some context for the space.

I am kicking myself for forgetting to bring a camera.

Also, I miss my kitties.

It is taking me forever to go through these pictures, so here, have a preview:



Full size is here. Warning: large picture is large.

This is probably the first day all month that I've felt actively oppressed by the need to post something. I've considered, started, and abandoned at least half a dozen ideas. So I guess I'll just spam you with pictures instead.

( From Potrero Hill )

( From Twin Peaks )

( Lexi! )

I'll be more original tomorrow. Maybe. It is a concert week, but I'll see what I can come up with.

In honor of the 70th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge, have some photos. And I threw in some kitties, as long as I was at it. ;) All photos by T.

Update: I am informed that the bridge photos I uploaded were not properly resized, and you should look at these versions instead.

( Tori being cute )

( Lexi being cuter )

( The Golden Gate Bridge being awesome )

It's been approximately a million zillion years since I put up cat photos. They're still cute and all, but it's true that they aren't kittens any more, and T has been experimenting with other kinds of photography. That doesn't mean there aren't still awesome kitty pics to share, though.

( Here, let's have some. )

Full size in the gallery.

( Plus, bonus fuzziness! )

In other news, finals are approaching, which leads to all the usual craziness. Stressed students, meetings all over the place, printers breaking down. Not to mention my boss being out on vacation. (Like one of the students said to me today, "She gets Paris, and you get finals." I don't begrudge her the trip, at all, it was a timing thing she couldn't control. Still, the kid has a point.) Just another week in the library!

Actually, there was some productivity. I did my shoulder excerises (well, one round anyway, still have to do the evening and night sets), T did laundry, and we finally hung the Christo print.

( He had some help with that. )

But mostly, we've been playing FFXII. I won't get into any real discussion, except to say: Quickenings. I vote yes. Also, T is downstairs leveling like mad as we speak. (Well, actually he's on the prowl for money. Every time we play a game like this, I am reminded of how much a capitalist he can be...)

The cats have become thoroughly engrossed with my physical therapy. The therabands are a source of endless fascination. They watch, rapt, as I go through my stretches, and then try to bat or bite at them. Sort of cute, sort of annoying. One older theraband actually broke because they were pulling on it. Tori ran off with a little tiny piece and ate it before I could stop her. Still trying to decide how worried to be about that. She seems fine, but I have a tendency to be paranoid about stuff like that. Best I can do is keep an eye on her, I suppose.

I just realized that today is the first anniversary of Kitten Day!

Of course, they are clearly cats now, as the pictures below will most definitely show. Especially if you compare them to the photos in the link above.

( The last two are especially for anzubird. )

A few other new photos in the Scrapbook gallery, along with these in larger versions. I really can't believe they've been part of our lives for a year. Sometimes it seems like they just showed up yesterday; other days it's as though they've always been here.

Final Fantasy 12 in two days!! Must manage expectations, must manage expectations...

Anyone have suggestions about ways to find an FFXII userpic without spoiling myself to death?

Also, on a completely unrelated topic, photos from Critical Mass, a monthy bike ride/protest in downtown San Francisco.

This one is my favorite:

( Fire! )

Between working Saturday and today's ballgame, I don't feel like I had much of a weekend. At least next week should be fairly mellow. Also, three day weekend! That always works.

T has taken some really neat San Francisco photos over the last several days. ( Behind the cut. )

( And a cat picture for good measure. )

The SF Bay Bridge is currently undergoing a huge renovation to bring it up to modern seismic standards. It's been going on for years and is scheduled to finish sometime in 2009. (This is just the retrofit of the San Francisco side. The new bridge, the Oakland side, is also under construction and probably won't be done until 2016 at the earliest.) Over the Labor Day weekend, they demolished a small portion of the upper deck. In order to do this, they had to close the bridge in the eastbound direction entirely, for the whole long weekend. It's supposed to reopen at 5am tomorrow.

Since we only live two blocks from the demolition site, of course we had to go take a look. T, a big fan of large-scale construction and demolition projects, took several pictures. ( Here are some of them. )

As I was pulling these pictures together, I noticed that the distant sound of jackhammers had stopped for the first time since very early Saturday morning. They're back now, intermittently, along with the dumptrucks taking away all the debris. We've been able to hear the noise from the bridge retrofit off and on almost since I started living here, in 2000, and for the most part I'm used to it. Still, headphones can be a blessing.

And now, for something completely different: Lexi climbing the walls!

( Three times the Lexi, three times the fun. )

This one is worth seeing full-size I think.

Also, I continue to be overrun by cuteness! Come see, and post your own.